


Alyssa and the Fabulous, Splendorous, Flawless, Very Good Day

by meretricula



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Gen, Misses Clause Challenge, Pastiche
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 08:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2845106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meretricula/pseuds/meretricula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alyssa Naeher has a very good day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alyssa and the Fabulous, Splendorous, Flawless, Very Good Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Scribe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribe/gifts).



> In case the title doesn't make it obvious, this fic is a pastiche of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Don't look for any kind of canon-compliant timeline here, because you're not going to find one. Just enjoy Alyssa having a nice day. (Thank you times a billion to [redacted] for reminding me to write this!)

Alyssa woke up feeling perfectly rested and energized. When she checked her phone, she had ten minutes before her alarm was set to go off and Amanda had sent her three texts, one of which was a very cute picture of a puppy. It was game day, and she could already tell it was going to be a good day. 

There was just enough milk left in the carton to have cereal and still have milk in her coffee. The orange juice was a day past its expiration date, but it hadn’t gone sour yet. When she went to put on her running shoes, she found her favorite windbreaker, which she’d thought she lost a week ago, on the floor of the closet where it had fallen off the hanger. She put it on and headed out for her run. 

It had rained overnight, but the clouds were already clearing, lingering just long enough for a spectacular sunrise. Alyssa took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled. She couldn’t imagine a more beautiful day, not even in Canada. 

*

On the way in to practice, every train pulled up to the platform just as Alyssa got there, so she never had to wait or run to catch one. The MBTA was running shuttle buses on the red line again, but at the opposite end from where Alyssa was going. There was always just enough room on the subway car that she could leave her practice bag on the seat next to her instead of in her lap without feeling like a jerk, and no one even looked like they were thinking about sitting next to her. 

Maddy was waiting for her just inside the locker room door. "Happy cheat day!" she said. She handed Alyssa a small, unlabeled cardboard box. "Don't let anyone see what's in there, I'm pretty sure they're still illegal in this country," she warned, and wandered off to change. 

Alyssa waited for another teammate to jump out and prank her, but nobody did. After a minute she lifted the lid off the box, just enough for a peek, and discovered that it was full to the brim with Kinder Eggs. 

"Am I missing something?" she asked Maddy once they were both dressed and heading out for warm-ups. "I didn't know we were trading presents today."

"Nope, you didn't forget anything!" Maddy said cheerfully. "Just a little surprise for my favorite teammate." 

"Well, thank you," Alyssa said, smiling. She couldn't ask for a better teammate than Maddy, not even in Canada. 

*

Alyssa warmed up with Maddy and Katie until Tom rounded up all the outfield players for their outfield player drills and Ashley pulled Alyssa and Jami aside to work on their positioning while defending corners. "Parting is such sweet sorrow," Shep called, tracing an invisible tear-track down her cheek as she jogged backward to join the rest of the forwards. 

"Keep me in your thoughts while I'm gone!" Maddy yelled from her clump of midfielders, not to be outdone. 

"I'll wear your handkerchief next to my heart to remind me of you until we meet again," Alyssa promised solemnly. "Two handkerchiefs. One for each of you. They'd be really useful, actually, they could absorb my excess boob-sweat." Maddy faked a swoon; Katie blew kisses. 

"No offense," said Jami, "but you Penn girls are so fucking weird." 

"Yeah," Alyssa agreed happily. It was always a good day to be weird with other Penn girls. Penn girls were the best kind of weird in the whole world, up to and including Canada. 

*

Practice was short, since it was a game day. Alyssa and Jami ran a little later than everyone else practicing penalties, and Cat came over to watch instead of going in to shower right away. When Ashley noticed her, she let Cat take the last penalty before they all headed in. 

Alyssa watched Cat's run-up with narrowed eyes. Some days saving a penalty was complete guesswork, but this time she knew which way to jump a fraction of a heartbeat before Cat's foot connected with the ball, and it thumped straight into her waiting arms. 

"You just keep getting better and better at that," Cat said, shaking her head. She helped Alyssa up, then slapped her on the shoulder. "Which is scary, because you're already stupid good. Proud of you, kid. C'mon, let's shower up." 

Alyssa followed her to the locker room, beaming with pride. She wouldn't trade Cat in for any other captain in the league. Not even for another captain on a team in Canada. 

*

After practice, Alyssa went out for sushi with Shep and Maddy and Heather. The waitress recognized Heather and brought them all free dumplings, and left them alone after their food was served. Katie and Heather both had tuna rolls, Maddy got salmon sashimi, and they all shared an intimidatingly large number of plates of kappa maki and avocado rolls. Everything was delicious, but Alyssa privately concluded that her dragon roll was the best thing on the table. She ate her last piece with her eyes closed, savoring the texture, and reflected that no matter what kind of sushi they had in Canada, there was no way it was better than what she had right in front of her. 

*

It was a perfect night for a game, warm but not hot or humid, and Alyssa had a feeling even before she stepped onto the pitch that it was going to be a great match: the kind where one side won not because the other team had screwed up, but because they'd been _better_. And the Breakers were better. Kristie's dribbles ended in passes which turned into assists which turned into goals, and Heather ran and ran and ran and never got tired, and Alyssa made numerous brilliant saves, but less frequently than she usually had to, and absolutely no one on either side got hurt, not even a cramp. It was the perfect end to a very good day. 

*

As soon as she got home, Alyssa’s phone rang with a number that she didn’t recognize. She thought about not picking up — sometimes a man with a thick South Boston accent called her late at night asking for Cynthia, and refused to believe her no matter how many times she told him that he had the wrong number — but she decided to risk it. “Hi, Alyssa, this is Jill Ellis,” said the voice on the phone. “I was very impressed by how you played today.” 

“Oh, I mean, thank you," Alyssa said. She felt herself blushing. "I didn't know you were planning on watching -- I'm glad you picked today. I was having a very good day." 

“I hope you’re planning on having a lot more good days,” Jill said, “because we’re going to need them in Canada.”


End file.
